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Links for Amateur Years:
Early Years |
1986/87 | 1987/88 | 1988/89 | 1989/90 |
1990/91 | 1991/92 | 1992/93 | 1993/94 |
Back to Memory Lane
1986/87 Competitive Season
International Competitions:
Now age 20, this was Kurt's 2nd year at Sr. Level and on the International Circuit.
- 1986 St. Gervais - 2nd
- 1986 Oberstdorf - 3rd
- 1986 NHK - 7th
- 1987 Canadians - 2nd
- 1987 Worlds - 15th
1987 Canadians and Worlds
- Short Program: Relax - He wears a red, sequined unitard very much like the one he wears for Tequila.
- Long Program: Grand Canyon Suite/Billy the Kid. This program was choreographed Sandra Bezic and demonstrated Kurt's ability to successfullly land all of the triple jumps except the triple axel, which was still a relatively new jump in men's figure skating at this time. Jump combinations included triple lutz/double toe combination, triple toe/triple toe combination, and a spread eagle into a triple sal/double loop.
At the 1987 Canadian Nationals in Ottawa, Kurt landed his triple lutz/double toe combination in the short program. He went on to land 5 triples in his long program helping him to secure 2nd place behind Brian Orser.
At the 1987 Worlds in Cincinnati, he wasn't so successful with his combination in the short, but still placed 15th overall. Not bad for only his 2nd year at Senior level ... and his first time at Worlds. During the warm-ups, Kurt was landing quads ... and was surprised that no one in the audience seemed to notice! Oh well ... wait till NEXT YEAR!!!! They'll stand up and take notice!!
Quotes about Kurt:
1987 Canadians by Johnny Esaw (after Kurt's triple flip): It's jumps like that that give us alot of heart ... because we've been looking for someone who will become the heir apparent to Brian Orser ... this young man can do it."
1987 Worlds by Ted Green: "He flies in the air on all of his jumps."
Did you know?
- Kurt won a gold medal at Canadian Nationals at all 3 levels (Novice/Juniors/Seniors): At age 16 (1983) Kurt became Canada's men's Novice Champion; At age 18 (1985) Kurt became Canada's men's Junior Champion; At age 22 (1989) Kurt became Canada's men's Senior Champion. Brian Orser is the only other Canadian to have accomplished this.
- Sandra Bezic Choreographed Kurt's Long Program, "Grand Canyon Suite", which Kurt used for his 1986/87 and 1987/88 competitive seasons. He wouldn't work with Sandra Bezic again until the 1992/93 season when he moved from Edmonton to Toronto to train with Louis Stong at the Granite Club. Together they created a Masterpiece - "Casablanca", which is still arguably the best Long Program in the history of amateur skating.
- Kurt was landing quads before he was landing triple axels!
- Inspired by Filipowski at the 1987 Worlds in Cincinatti - 3 days after returning, Kurt started landing triple axels cleanly in practice.
- At the 1986 St. Gervais competition, Kurt landed both a triple lutz and a triple flip in the same program for the first time!
- During the Gala at the 1986 Oberstdorf competition, Kurt attempted a quad for the first time in public. He had been landing them in practice at the Glenora, but his attempt in Oberstdorf was not successful
Go To 1987/88
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